Centrifugal bolting-machine



(No Mcdel'.)

. l 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. y W. E. GORTON. l

GBNTRIPUGAL BOLTING MACHINE.

Patented July 22, 1884.

N. PETERS. Mmlutmgrapmr. walmngion. n.6.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. E. GORTON.

GBNTRIFUGAL BOLTING MACHINE. No. 802,480. Patented July 22, 1884.

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N. PETERS, Phawumgmher, wmhingum D C,

(No Model.) y y A 3 Sheets-sheet s.

W. E. GORTN.

GBNTRIPUGAL BOLTING MACHINE.

No. 302,480. Patented July 22, 1884.

known as centrifugals or centrifugal reels.

Unirse STATES Artnr Ormea.

VILLIAM E. GORTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

C/ENTRIFUGAL BOLTlNG-NIACHINE.V

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,480, dated July 22, 1884.

Application ilcd January 3, 1S84. (Xo modell) To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. GoRToN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful .Improvements in Centrifugal Bolting-Ma` chines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specilication.

This invention relates to that class of reels for bolting iiour and middlings which are It has for one of its principal objects to provide a construction whereby, in the operation of bolting, the lighter and feathery or fluffy materials may be withdrawn from the mass being operated upon without also carrying off material that should be retained. Another object is to prevent obstruction of the meshes of the bolting-cloth, and still another to improve the action of thebolting-clothin itslower portion.'

To these and other ends that will further ap pear the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure lis a longitudinal vertical section of a centrifugal reel containing my improvements. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through w x of Fig. l, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow x. Fig. 3 is aview of the rear end or head ofthe rcel having a portion of the outer hub-casting thereon broken away. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the walls of one of the radial passages in the rear Ahead of the reel, taken at g/ 3/ of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail.

My invention is adapted to either horizontal or vertical reels, but is herein illustrated as applied to one ofthe former class.

To lirst describe theparticular construction, which is shown inthe drawings as one practical embodiment of myinvention, A is a frame of any form suitable for the purpose of properly supporting the working mechanism.

B is the axial shaft of the reel or flyer, mounted in bearings B B.

B2 is a driving-pulley iiXed to said shaft. C is a suction-fan driven from the shalt B by a belt, c, trained over the pulley B3 on shaft B.

D is an apertured cylinder or drum, supported from the shaft B by means of open sup- 55- ports d, andhaving its interior in communication with the fan C.

E E are a series of longitudinal shelves or troughs, supported from the shaft B by4 arms E', terminatingin scalloped rims E?, which con- 6o form to the sectional shape of the troughs. The purposes of these troughs will appear hercafter. lIlhey rise at their rear edges (reference being had to their direction of motion) to a common circle, and at their front edges ap- 65 proach the adjacent troughs at a less distance from the axis of the reel, as more plainlyr indicated in Figs. 2 and 5, leaving long and narrowspaces or slits c c between each two ad jacent ones. 7o

F F are beater-blades secured upon two or more movable rings, F', which are bolted to slotted eXtensionsE of the scalloped rim E2, as best shown in the detail, Fig. 5. By sliding the rings F in the direction ofthe slots c', 75 any desired inclination or Obliquity maybe given to the blades F.

G is the boltingcloth, sustained by longitudinal ribs g and circumferential ribs g', attached to the heads G G2. Thehead G at the 8o receiving end of the machine is provided with a series of inlet-passages, g2, (or it may be opened at the centen) and is supported by a conical casting, G3, secured to the head outside the passage 02. On said casting Gr3 is S 5 formed a hollow trunnion, I(f,which surrounds the shaftB and runs in a bearing, Gf, mounted on a frame-piece, a.

Upon the inside of the head G is secured a screen, J, of wire-cloth or other suitable ma- 9o terial, which embraces the inlet-openings g2, and forms a chamber through which the ma terial fed to the machine must pass to the bolt, its object being to arrest dough-balls and other matters that should be excluded from the bolt. 95

Exterior to the hollow trunnion g" is placed the hopper K, which is shown as being of the same casting with the adjacent shaft-bearing B', but which may be made otherwise, if preferred.' Said hopper communicates with the Ioo interior of the trunnion g, as shown, and within the central chamber, K', thus formed, the

the usual construction, and for the usual pur- Ythe hopper to the bolt.

pose of carrying material horizontally from The opposite head, G, is annular in form, and at its inner periphery closely approximates the drinn D. It is supported by a casting, H, having radial hollow arms H, anda central large hollow hub or trunnion, H2, resting on rollers H, which are mounted upon a transverse frame-piece, c. The arms H afford passages h,which are placed in communication with the openings g1' th rough the head G" at its outer margin, and form, in connection therewith, bent passages connecting the interior of the reel with the interior of the hub H.

I is a chamber in communication with the suction-fan and with the interior of the bolt and the drum D through the trunnion H2. It is provided with a hinged valve, fi, at its lower end for the discharge of the tailings. rIhe drum D is provided throughout its length with numerous openings, d d, distributed over its surface, which openings are large enough to allow a free passage for a large volume of air and those light and feathery particles commonly present in the unbolted mass offlour or middlings. The space immediately surrounding the drum is divided into chainbers D D by means of annular' diaphragms d", said chambers corresponding, preferably, with the divisions of the exterior bolting-cloth G into sections of unequal mesh or iineness when the bolting-eloth is so constructed. f ithin the drum D are placed a number of cylindrie registers, D2, fitted to the interior of said drum, but adapted to slide freely therein. These registers are apertured at d2 to coincide with the holes d in the drum, so that by a movement of the registers the said holes d may be opened or closed to any desired extent. The registers are shown as having a movement longitudinally of the drum, and they are operated from the exterior of the machine by rods D. For this purpose interior rods, D3, are provided, each of which connects at one end with dianietric arms Z,Secured to one of the registers, and at the other with one of a series of sliding collars, di), surrounding the shaft B near the rear end ofthe machine. The rods D'E are forked or otherwise constructed to engage peripheral grooves in the collars d5, and are supported in` passages made for them through the cross-piece a of the frame or otherwise.

rlhe desired difference in speed between the bolt-frame and flier (the latter comprising the drum D, troughs E, and beater-blades F) is obtained by the following means: On the protruding end of the shaft B, at the head ofthe machine, is provided a pinion, b, and on the casting G is formed or secured a circular rack, g5. Motion is communicated from the pinion b to the rack g5 by means of a spur and pinion, L', fixed to a shaft, L2, suitably supported by the frame-piece c, and bracket c2.

In a horizontal machine, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, longitudinal ledges M M are secured to the sides of the housing N, dividing the space within the housing and exterior to the bolt into two chambers,one above the other. The upper chamber is provided with a register, N', and the lower one with a conveyer or other device or form of construction adapted to discharge the bolted material.

In the operation of a machine constructed as above described, it is evident that the suction-fan G will induce an air-current radially inwardly through the bolting-cloth, through the spaces between the beater-blades, through the slots or openings c between the troughs E, through the apertures d of the drum D,and outwardly through the trunnion HZ and discharge-chamber I to the fan-chamber. The object of this air-current is to separate `and carry ofi' the light and feathery substances hereinbefore referred to, to prevent their obstruction of the bolting-cloth G, and in some degree to counterbalauce the force of gravity operating in the lower portion of the bolt to load the cloth and obstruct its meshes at this point. This last effect is obtained by the division of the space exterior to the bolt by partitions M and the provision of theregister N, as above pointed out, by which the air-draft through the several upper and lower parts of the bolt may manifestly be relatively controlled.

rI`he construction shown is designed to withdraw the said light and fluffy particles without also carrying away the fine iiour or middlings. To this end the shelves or troughs E are constructed and arranged to arrest and receive the denser material that fails to pass the meshes of the bolting-eloth at any one of the centrifugal impulses imparted thereto, when the same rebounds or falls from the cloth. ln such inward radial movement of the flour or middlings, and because of the form of the troughs and their direction of motion, said ilour or middlings will naturally strike the rear portions of the troughs, and owing to the outwardly and rearwardly inclined direction of said troughs, as viewed in Fig. 2, said material so arrested at once slides backward upon and is hurled outward by said rear and outer parts of the troughs. rIhe slots c for the passage of the fluffy material placed at the front edges of the troughs will, therefore, not afford escape or passage for the relatively dense fiour or middlings, while if an air-current of sufficient strength be employed the said lighter particles may be drawn from the dissipated or iiying mass and carried inwardly through said openings c. rlhe division of the space surrounding the drum into chambers andthe employment of several separately-operable registers D2 within the drum enables the force of saidair-current to be varied at different parts of the bolt, such regulation being commonly performed with reference to the relative closeness of mesh in the several ICO IIO

sections of cloth of which the bolt-clothing in this,as in bolts generally,is usually composed. In the lower portions of the horizontal form of the bolt such inward air-current will also operate to loosen the substance being bolted and lessen the accumulation of material and to prevent obstruction thereby at this part of the bolt.

It will be observed that the primary and essential elements of a machine for the principal purposes of my invention are a bolting-cloth, beaters or equivalent devices for producing centrifugal action, a suction-fan or similarlyoperating means constructed to produce an inward aircurrent, and means for arresting the middlings and flour while allowing the lighter substances to pass, by reason of their' greater subjection, to the action of the inward air-current. As these and subordinate effects sought by my invention may be `produced by other devices than those illustrated and above specifically described as forming one practicable means for carrying out my said invention, I wish it to be understood that I am not limited to said special devices.

It is particularly evident that my general invention may be applied in a centrifugal boltingu-machine having a vertical aXis, and that in this case the inward air-current will prove an important auxiliary centripetal force operating to aid the inward rebound of the middlings and flour from the cloth equally at all points thereof. It is also evident that in either form of bolt the general effectof withdrawing the lighter substances may be effected without inducing` the air-'current through the bolting-cloth or bolt proper by admitting it at one or both ends of the bolt for this purpose. I prefer, however, rto pass the said current eX- clusively through the bolting-cloth, both for the purpose of thereby clearing the meshes of the cloth and also of p giving a substantiallyradial inward direction to the air or one nearly the same as that taken by the material repelled from the bolt. It is further manifest that the rear walls'of the troughs E may serve as beaters, to the exclusion of the outer series of beaters, I+, and to this end the said rear walls of the troughs may be prolonged, if need be. The said outer series of beaters is not, therefore, essential to the operation of the invention, and I do not limit myself to -a construction in which such separate beaters are used, except in the claims in which they are specifically mentioned. I prefer, however, to eniploy the outer and separate series of beaters, because they may be more readily adjusted to different inclinations for the purpose of varying the speed of passage from end to end through the bolt'of the material being operated upon. The troughs E may be placed in contact with each other and apertured at their front edges, as the equivalent of the slits e,- and, if necessary or desired, a second series of troughs or more than one series of such troughs, with suitable passages, maybe arranged between the series shown and the drum D, for the purpose of more effectively arresting the middlings and fiour, or more perfectly separating the fluffy substances therefrom. The shelves or troughs are not necessarily of the sectionally-curved form here shown, but may consist of' flat boards or plates set at a rearward and outward inclination corresponding with the rear portions of the structures here-V shelves or troughs, constructed to arrest andl throw outwardly the denser substances carried inward by such air-current and to allow the feathery substances to pass with the air, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the bolting-cloth, revolving beaters, and means operating to produce an inward radial air-current, of a scries of shelves or troughs constructed to arrest the middlings and fiour and to afford passages for the air and lighter substances, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the bolting-cloth, a series of revolving beaters, I?, and means operating to produce an inward radial air.- current, of a series of troughs, E, arranged inside the beaters F, said troughs being con,- structed with their rear walls relatively prolonged outwardly, and with spaces between them, substantially as described. i

4. The combination, with the bolting-cloth, beaters, and' means for arresting the inward radial movement of .flour or middlings, constructed to afford passage for air, of an apertured inner drinn, and a suction-fan communicating with the interior ofthe drum, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the bolting-cloth, beaters, means for arresting the inward radial movement of middlings or fiour," an inner apertured drum, and a suction-fan communicat- IOO ing with the interior of the drum, o'f means constructed to vary the size of the apertures in the drum, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the bolting-cloth, beaters, meansifor arrest-ing the inward radial movement of the middlings or fidur, an apcating with the interior of the drum, of two or more registers constructed to vary the size of the bearings in the drum, and annular partitions dividing the space exterior to the drum. U

\7. rIhe combination, with the apertured drum l) and registers D2, within the drum, and shaft B, of rotating grooved collars di on the shaft, rods Di", connecting the registers 'ertured drum, and a suction-fan communi and collars, and rods D", engaged with the grooves of the collars, substantially as described.

S. The Combination, with a horizontal bolt, roel, or flyer, the housing, and means oona sl'rueted to produce an inward radial air-eurrent through the bolting-eloth, of side partitions, M, and a registered opening in the upper part of the housing, substantially as described.

9. The combination of a eentrally-apertured redhead, G2, constructed of wood and provided with marginal openings g4 and an open 

